Fabric and process for making the same



Oct. 24, 1939. F. B. voEGr-:Ll 2,177,586

l FABRIC AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME Filed Sept. 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Frederic/c B. Vye

ORNEYS Oct. 24, 1939.

F. B. VOEGELI FABRIC AND PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed sept. 21, 193s 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE Frederick B. Voegeli, Mansfield, Mass.

Application SeptembeLZI, 1938, Serial No. 230,910

6 Claims.

'Ihis invention pertains to a novel fabric and to a process for making the same, and more particularly to a fabric having a relatively large bulkv (i. e., occupying a relatively large space) per unit weight of the fabric, and to a process for manufacturing such a fabric.

It is often desirable to have a fabric in which the bulk-is large for the actual body of the material, i. e., the number of threads per inch making up the fabric. Such cloth has many usen, such, for example, as for bandages. surgical dressings (where absorbent materials are needed); for curtains where non-transparent material is needed which will not interfere with air l5 circulation and which is capable of easy drapi`ng; for summer wear such as in beach robes, lounging robes, etc.; and also for blankets for covering purposes and many other uses.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide van improved cloth having relatively large bulk for the actual body of the material.

Another object is to provide an improved process for manufacturing such cloth.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawings, which show views of several modifications of cloth embodying the inventions and which show the cloth in various stages of manufacture,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View of a multiply fabric at one stage in the process of manufacture;

Figure 2A is a composite cross-section therethrough taken on lines A, B and C to show the weft threads of the top, intermediate 'and bottom plies, respectively;

Figure 2B is another composite cross-section therethrough taken on lines D, E and F showing weft threads of the plies in the same order as `shown in Figure 2A;

Figure 3 is a magnified plan view taken from a photograph of a fabric embodying the invention land made in accordance with the process emv'b'odying the invention and showing the cloth of Figure 1 at a later stage in the process of manufacture;

Figure 4 is a magnified sectional view taken from a photograph of the material shown in Figure 3;

Figure 4A is an enlarged diagrammatic view of a cross-section of the cloth shown in Figure 3;

, Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view o f another multi-ply fabric at the same stage in the process of manufacture as shown in Figure 1 but woven differently from that shown in Figure 1;

.Figure 6 is a composite cross-section of the fabric shown in Figure 4 taken on lines A, B and C of the warp threads of the top, intermediate and` bottom vplies respectively;A

Figure 7 is a magnified plan view taken from a'photograph of a fabric embodying the invention, the fabric being the same as that shown in Figure 5 but after furthervprocessing; and

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view of another fabric in the same stage of the process as that shown in Figure 1.

Corresponding reference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to Figure 1, the cloth there shown is what is commonly known as multi-ply cloth, i. e., it is woven in such a way that a plurality of plies are formed, the plies having common selvages I0, and each of theplies being tied together, as by warp tie-ins in the well-known manner. This construction is shown in Figures 2A andv 2B wherein there are three sets of warp threads, I, 2 and 3, representing respectively the warp of the top, middle and bottom plies. The weft or ller threads of the respective top, intermediate and bottom plies are shown at 4, 5 and 6, respectively. In the present embodiment this cloth is preferably woven in such manner that the tie-ins are made at regularly spaced points as indicated at 1 in Figures 2A and 2B so that in subsequent processing the various plies are held together and support one another.

'I'he fabric shown is a plain weave construction and is such that each ply has a relatively large openmesh structure. Thus, each ply may be formed of threads of from numbers 20 to 60 English or higher, and, for example, a construetion of 12 x 8 threads per inch. The yarn used may have a normal twist in contradistinction to a hard twist. For example yarn having a twist of 4 to 4.5 D may be v''ed, although higher or lower twists may be us'ed where desired. 'I'hus the open mesh in each ply hasA a width much greater than the diameter of the threads.

This construction gives each ply a coarse and loose character and the'cloth in this stage has relatively little body or bulk, and little solidity. Although the plies are interlaced by the warp threads, the construction is so loose the various plies may slide slightly with respect to each other. This renders the fabric capable of responding to a subsequent contracting step in the manufacturing process because the construction is such that the warp and filler threads are not tied to each other, but on the contrary each warp may easily move crosswise of associated weft strands, and vice versa, to permit the warp and weft threads to independently contract by looping at random.

'Ihe next step in the process of forming my new fabric is to treat the fabric just described to produce a relatively large so-called contracting of the warp and filler threads, the contracting being produced in such a way that each warp and filler thread contracts independently of the other warp and iiller threads, so that they all curl or loop in different directions and out of the plane of their respective plies to form a fabric that looks and feels somewhat like terry cloth.

Thus by the term contracting, as referred to herein, is meant that action which causes the threads to assume looped or curled conditions which are natural to the threads when eYposed to some medium that thoroughly wets the threads such, for example, as hot soapy water, white the threads are in an untensioned state.

In this kind of contracting each length of warp between the adjacent iiller threads is free to leave the plane of the particular ply in which the warp liesand to loop or tend to loop, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The same action or shrinking applies to the weft strands. The loose mesh construction of the several plies permits this sind of zo contracting because of the relatively long lengths of the strand between the two adjacent cross strands under which the strand passes as compared with the thread or strand diameters. Thus', although the contracting effectively brings closer together the crossing points of the strands in each ply, it may not close up the fabric because of the looped and/or crinkled nature of the threads between the crossing points and because as to each ply the crossing points may still be relatively :far apart, i. e., the effective meshes may still be relatively large although covered by the random positions of the loops and crinkles of the warp and ller threads.

Referring to Figures 4 and 4A, the loops and ,i' crinkles of the warp and filler threads of one ply extending into and contacting the loops and crlnkles of the warp and ller threads of adjacent plies serve to give the fabric thus formed greaterY solidity than that existing in the fabric as shown in Figure 1.

'I'hus this contracting converts the transparent non-bulky and non-solid fabric shown in Figure l into a fabric which hasa greatly increased bulk or thickness, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The

.resulting fabric also has an appreciable bulk for the relatively light body of the fabric. nFurther, thefabric is soft and relatively solid. In this way cloth having these highly desirable characteristics or properties is formed inexpensively because of the small amount of bulk and because the loose construction of the various -plies makes possible obtaining such contracting as described with only normally twisted thread andwithout the need of threads having a higher,- twist.

` One satisfactory method of producing such contracting of thefabric as isfdesired is by the known method of agitating the cloth in ahnt water bath containing among other ingredients soap. This may be carried out in a closed con-` tainer partially iilled with the hot soapy water, the container being mounted -fo'r agitation on -suitable shaking apparatus or rotary motion which causes the cloth to slap against the sides of the'container under the Weight of the cloth. Due to the kind of loose construction of the fabric, as above described, the warp and weft threads, even though having only normal twist, contract at will to loop as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 4A, and in so contracting produce Vthe above described bulky fabric. Such treatment causes a resultant overall contraction of the cloth, as shown in Figure l, of

lat least 30%. y

Afterthe cloth has been thus treated it is dried in such' a manner as not to remove the contracting'produced by the above described process.

envases With reference to the construction of the fabric discussed in Heure l, the number of threads per inch in each ply may be reduced, but as they are reduced it may be desirable to increase the number of plies to maintain about the same body or total number of threads per inch in the cloth. r if it is desired to further increase the bulk of the nished cloth and at the same time to increase the number of threads per inch of the cloth, the number of plies may be increased without increasing the number of threads per inch in eachply.

And contrariwise, it desired, the body of the fabric may be increased by increasing the number of threads per inch in each of the plies of the fabric as shown, but the amount that the threads per inch can be increased is limited by the open mesh consn'uction required in the contracting operation to permit the warp and weft threads to assume their loose looped or kinked positions. If the mesh construction is made too close the warp and weft strands instead of contracting, as described, simply shrink slightly in straight paths, being held in the piane of the fabric by the weave construction. Thus theconstruction of threads per inch with respect to the diameter or count Aof the thread cannot be changed to the point of preventing the formation strands as above described.

Further, the Weave may be varied in the several plies; thus, for example, it maynot be necessary to use as many iiller threads inthe intermediate plies as in the outer plies to reduce the cost of manufacture, or use more warp threads to increase the bulk and give greater production of the loom. The weave may thus be varied so long as it is not of such a character as to prevent the random looping of the threads as above described. the weave may be varied when desired to float the warp threads on either side of an intermediate ply, the warp threads being tied in as shown in Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 5, other embodiment of the multi-ply cloth iswoven In this modication the l2 and I3, are repeatedly tied inonly at spaced intervals Aby the weft threads Il, I5 and I6, to form what might be called intermediate selvages generally indicated at I1. With this construction thecloth has moresolidity and the warp threads are held in a more nearly-aligned posi- Een during the subsequent contracting opera- When this Iabricis subjected to the contracting action, as above described, the resulting cloth has a ribbed appearance, as shown in Figure 7, the raised parts of the ribs being indicated at 3U and the valleys at 3L The ribbed appearance may be varied as desired by varying the spacing or width of the selvages. V

Referring to Figure 8 there is shown another modification of a multi-ply fabric which maybe contracted as described. In this fabric the various plies 'are tied together by leno warpthreads Il, i9 which tie in along spaced paths some or all of the lille!- threads .28, 2|; 22. These leno threads may be used to control the amountof contracting vas above described Y Thus, leno threads having ahigh twist may be usedto aid in causing greater contraction, or medium twist lena threads my be used to limit the nannal con# of the loose loops of the three sets of warp, Il,V

traction; and lleno threads having a sub-normal 1 twist maybe used-to still further limit the natural qminaction. Furthermore, these leno threads maybeused when desired in the selvage formed during weaving between portions of the fabric to-prevent undesired crinkling of the selvage during the contracting of the body of the fabric. i, y

Fabric such as shown in Figure 8, when subjected to the contracting action-above described results in a cloth which also has a ribbed appearance such as that shown in Figure 7, and the ribbed appearance may be varied by varying the application of the leno threads and the twist of the leno threads used.

Cloth embodying the invention and made in accordance with the process is particularly adapted for bandages and for surgical absorption pads. The highly porous nature of the cloth makes it permeable. The looseness of the thread construction plus the fact that it has had the hot soap and water treatment as well as treatments which result in the extraction of foreign materials, such asv sizing, as well as materials naturally contained in the bres (which materials itis desirable to remove for the production of nearly pure libre) and the fact that the cloth is made from yarns of normal twist, renders the threads highly absorbent and soft. Hard twists result in wiry cloth.

As various embodiments might be made of this invention, and as various changesmight be made in the construction herein described, allwithout departing from the scope of the invention,

it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or` shown in the accompanying' drawings is rto be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a fabric havingk a large bulk per unit of weight, comprising at least three plies having common selvages,

formed from cotton thread 'having a normal' twist of from about 4 to 4.5 and from threads of numbers from to 60, the construction of each ply being approximately l2 x 8 threads per inch, andthe plies being interwoven only at spaced intervals with respect to each other and individual threads of the respective plies being independently looped out of the planes of the plies in a random manner and intermingled with looped threads of adjacent plies to give the cloth a bulky solid expansive characteristic.

2. As an article of manufacture, a cloth having a large bulk per unit of weight, said cloth comprising a plurality of plies having common selvages and being interwoven at spaced intervals only and woven principally from light cotton warp and weft threads, said 'Warp threads beingof substantially equal length'and said weft .threads being of substantially equal length, and

the arrangement of the warp and weft threads in each ply. being `of open mesh weave and being characterized by individual random looping of the threads out of the planes of the respective plies caused by the threads tending to assume a natwally less twisted condition while wetted 4and untensioned, and the construction of said plies being-so loose as to permit and facilitate said looping produced byysaid wetting treatment.

3. As an article of manufacture, a. cloth having a large bulk per unit of weight, said cloth comprising a plurality of plies having common yelvages and being interwoven only Vat spacedintervals and woven principally from light cotwarp and weft threads of normal twist. said 4warp threads beingof substantially the same length, and the arrangement of the warp and weft threads in each'ply being ofopen mesh weave and being characterized by individual random looping of the threads out of the planes of the respective plies to form a solid bulky cloth, and the construction of said plies being so loose (in the neighborhood of l2 x 8 threads per inch) as to permit said individual looping of the threads.

4. As an article of manufacture, a fabric formed from a grey cloth woven principally from light cotton warp and weft threads of. about normal twist and comprising a plurality of plies having common selvages and being interwoven only at spaced intervals, and the warp threads thereof being of substantially equal length and each of the plies being of a plain open mesh weave and having a loose construction such that individual threads thereof may be looped out of the planes of the plies by contracting the grey cloth by the application of hot soapy water while lin an untensioned condition; said fabric being characterized by the fact that the warp and weft threadsof the plies are so looped, some of them extending from the planes of their respective plies into the planes of the other plies and intermingling with the looped threads thereof and some of which, in addition to those extending into and intermingling with the looped threads of adjacent plies, are looped over threads of adjacent plie's, so as positively to tie the plies together.

5. The process for manufacturing a cloth having relatively large bulk in comparison with its body, comprising weaving a plurality of plies from cotton yarn having a twist of from 4 to 4.5 and from numbers which may vary from 20 to 60, the plies each being woven in a plain weave and each ply having a grey cloth construction of approximately 1-2 x 8 threads per inch, the plies having common selvages and being interwoven only at spaced intervals with respect to each other, subsequently subjecting the cloth thus formed to a hot soapy water bath to contract the fabric by causing the individual threads of the respective plies tovindependently loop out of the planes of the respective plies and to intermingle with the threads of the adjacent plies to increase the bulk and soiidity of the cloth, and sebsequently drying the cloth thus contracted in such manner as to leave the loops in the threads in the final product.

6. A process of manufacturing a cloth having a large bulk per unit of weight which comprises the steps of weaving a plurality of plies from lightf-.c'otton warp and weft threads of about normal twist, said plies having common selvages and being'interwoven only at spaced intervals and the warp threads thereof being of substantially the same length, each ply having a grey cloth construction of open mesh weave and suffi- FREDERICK B. VOEGELI. l 

